Removing a fish hook from the mouth of a fish can at best be difficult unless the hook is located near the lips of the mouth of the fish where it is readily visible and easily grasped by the hand of the person who is fishing. One basic problem is, of course, that most hooks are barbed and hence specifically designed so that the fish cannot readily expel the hook from its mouth, since after the hook penetrates flesh the barbed portion tends to dig in or penetrate additional flesh when a reverse or rearward pulling force is exerted upon the hook. In spite of the barb or barbs it is still fairly easy to remove the hook from the mouth of the fish if the hook is readily visible which means that the fish is hooked at or near the lips of the mouth.
Unfortunately, all too often the fish swallows the hook so that it is located well beyond the lip area of the mouth of the fish. This is desirable in terms of catching the fish since it is difficult or impossible for the fish to expel the hook from its mouth and hence this usually insures that the fish remains caught when the fish line is reeled in. However, after the fish is caught the hook needs to be removed. In this situation the hook is not readily accessible and may not even be in a location where it can be seen. Merely pulling out on the fish line to attempt to pull the fish hook out will only result in setting the hook in deeper so that it is even more difficult to remove the hook.
In many cases, the person trying to remove the hook from the mouth of the fish will resort to some type of pliers and will attempt to grasp the hook with the nose portion of the pliers. However, it is quite common for the hook not to be readily visible and in this case it is difficult to grasp the hook with the nose of the pliers. Even if the hook can be grasped with the pliers, it may still be difficult to remove the hook and it may be necessary to pull the hook out by pulling it through the flesh in the mouth of the fish. This can damage or break the hook and in most cases it causes sufficient damage to the fish so that it will die. Consequently, this prevents keeping the fish alive until it is cleaned or returning the fish to the water it came from so that it can grow larger.
These problems associated with removing fish hooks from the mouths of fish after they have been caught are overcome or avoided by this fish hook removing device invention. This fish hook removing device invention allows a hook to be removed from the mouth of the fish even though the fish hook cannot be seen by the person removing the hook and even if the hook has been swallowed by the fish and hence is located in the fish well beyond the lips of the mouth of the fish. Since the hook does not need to be visible this fish hook removing device invention is particularly useful at night when adequate light may not be readily available.
The fish hook removing device also avoids damaging the fish hook and line, and minimizes the damage done to the fish by removing the hook. The fish hook removing device is particularly suitable for hook and release fisherman in that the fish need not be touched or taken from the water to remove the hook since only the fish hook removing device and the fish line needs to be touched to put the fish hook removing device on the fish line and insert it into the mouth of the fish. The fish hook removing device is easy to use by even an inexperienced person. Moreover, the fish hook removing device is light in weight and is easily carried or stored when not in use.